Near the turn of the century, Russia had two No. 1-ranked men’s players and Grand Slam champions in Marat Safin and Yevgeny Kafelnikov, and the country won the Davis Cup in 2002 and 2006.

But since Safin’s retirement, in 2009, the country has fallen into relative obscurity on the men’s side, instead mainly drawing attention for its success in the upper echelons of the women’s game.

Hope is once again bubbling in the form of two young prospects, Karen Khachanov, 20, and Andrey Rublev, 19, who won their first-round matches at the Australian Open. And 207th-ranked Alexander Bublik, a 19-year-old Russian who represents Kazakhstan, pulled off one of the biggest upsets of the first round, defeating 16th-seeded Lucas Pouille of France.

Another Russian, Daniil Medvedev, 20, lost his first-round match on Tuesday, but has risen more than 250 spots in the rankings, to No. 63, in the past year.

Just ahead of him is Khachanov, who is ranked 52nd after a surge late last year that included his first ATP title.

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Alexander Bublik, above, a Russian who represents Kazakhstan, pulled off one of the biggest upsets so far at the Australian Open, defeating 16th-seeded Lucas Pouille of France.CreditPat Scala/Getty Images

“I think they are not talking much about us because they used to have No. 1 players,” Khachanov said. “The higher we will be, the more they will talk. But everybody wants us to be higher, and they are waiting for us to be higher.”

Khachanov made a splash at age 17 when he made the quarterfinals at the ATP tournament in Moscow in 2013, but it did not lead to immediate similar successes.

“Everything is step by step,” he said. “I worked hard last season and in the off-season before, and it paid off in the end.”

He added: “After that quarterfinal, I thought that everything was easy and I would be in the top 100 soon, but it was still a long way still. You have to maintain the focus to try to be like a rock, pushing yourself to not be affected by things.”

Bublik, though, acknowledged that he lacked the kind of focus chess requires, saying that he struggles to read a book for more than a half-hour.

“I was an entertainer as a kid, from when I was born,” said Bublik, who goes by Sasha. “I was running on my hands through the school. I was always like this. I just put it inside of my tennis. When I was maybe 14, I was really stuck because of this — I couldn’t play tennis, I was only doing some jokes and stuff. Then I found a balance between being serious and being entertaining — a clown, or whatever.”

Bublik’s wandering attention often shows in his play, with interjections of slices and drop shots at seemingly inadvisable times.

“My way of playing, it’s pretty strange for the guys,” Bublik said. “They don’t know how to beat me, mostly. I’m mostly playing against myself.”

That confidence has been rewarded with soaring results, including improving his ranking by 755 spots last year. After his first-round upset, Bublik said he would reward himself with a black jacket he saw in the window of a Gucci shop in Melbourne. Its large “tiger claw” tears and a large image of a bird caught his eye.

“I don’t like jackets, I don’t wear them, but that one is unreal,” he said, his eyes widening.

Bublik does not shy from the spotlight, even though his achievements do not yet match those of Khachanov or Rublev. During his run through qualifying here, he posted a video of himself interviewing a local Rafael Nadal impersonator.

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The Russian Andrey Rublev, 19, defeated Yen-hsun Lu of Taiwan in the first round on Monday at the Australian Open.CreditLynn Bo Bo/European Pressphoto Agency

Bublik said he admired the Irish fighter Conor McGregor, who competes in mixed martial arts — “I love this kid,” he said of McGregor, who is nine years older than he is. Bublik also exercised little of the caution and deference shown by Khachanov and Rublev when reaffirming that his lone goal was to become No. 1.

“Yeah, that’s it, simple,” he said.

Would No. 2 suffice?

“Nah,” he said.

Bublik speaks English with a distinctly Californian beat, something he picked up during his time training in the Bay Area as a teenager.

“I want to sound like I’m from L.A.,” he said.

Accent aside, Khachanov balked when Bublik was mentioned in a list of promising young Russians.

“He’s not Russian; he’s not Russian anymore,” Khachanov said. “He’s playing for Kazakhstan now, so you cannot say that he’s Russian. It’s the principle of it, I think. If he moved there, you cannot say that he is Russian.”

Following in the footsteps of several other Russians, Bublik, who was born in St. Petersburg, chose to represent Kazakhstan in exchange for support from its federation.

“Russia never helped me; they didn’t give anything to me,” said Bublik. “Kazakhstan gave me the best. I have everything to improve, and that’s what I need.”

He added: “I’m happy to represent them, but I’m still Russian. I was born there. I was living there for 19 years. My parents live there.”

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page B9 of the New York edition with the headline: Young Stars Climb Rankings, Jolting Russia’s Dormant Men’s Game to Life. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe